Major League Soccer’s power rankings crown the Union as No. 1

So what if it's four weeks into the season? A sports league has put Philly on a pedestal above New York, Boston, Washington, and Los Angeles.

The Union's Sergio Santos (middle left) and Cory Burke (middle right) celebrate Burke’s first-half goal against the San Jose Earthquakes at Subaru Park on March 12.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published March 22, 2022, 4:41 p.m. ET

Looking for a sports league that puts its Philadelphia team on a pedestal above New York, Boston, Washington, and Los Angeles?

Try the sport that so many Philly fans love to hate.

After the Union’s first-ever win at Yankee Stadium against New York City FC, Major League Soccer’s power rankings crowned the Union as No. 1 on Tuesday. That’s better than all the teams from those cities Philly fans detest (and sometimes are jealous of), plus the big-spending, trendy teams in Seattle and Atlanta.

“Any time Alejandro Bedoya and Daniel Gazdag score to give you the win in what was definitely a revenge game even if the people involved with said revenge denied the revenge even being a thing, even if they did maybe happen to get into a fight on the field while enacting it, \AND\ you jump to the top of the Power Rankings? That’s a weekend to remember,” wrote J. Sam Jones, the power-ranker for MLS’s website.

Jones also gave a shout-out to Nathan Harriel, the rookie right back who assisted on Gazdag’s goal in Saturday’s 2-0 victory. Harriel has raced past Olivier Mbaizo on the depth chart four weeks into the season.

“They look cohesive, mean and altogether set to stay near the top of the standings all year,” Jones wrote. “They’re pretty much everything we expected them to be. That’s bad news for the rest of the East. Especially if new elements like Harriel and a goal-minded Gazdag make them into even more than that.”

Now, if it makes you worried that a Philly team is getting this kind of national-level praise, this might make you feel better: ESPN’s power rankings have the Union No. 2 behind Los Angeles FC, one of three clubs that like the Union have 10 points in the standings through four games.

But even then, ESPN’s Dan Hajducky called the Union “the team to beat in the East right now” as MLS reaches the March FIFA break for national team games.

“The Union impressively weathered a storm from the defending MLS Cup champions NYCFC on Saturday, hammering home two quick goals and playing D,” Hajducky wrote. “They didn’t seem to mind getting out-possessed 74% to 26%. The victory was the Union’s first-ever at Yankee Stadium and backstop Andre Blake hasn’t allowed a goal since the 32nd minute of the Montreal match on March 5.”

The Union’s next game is on April 2, against expansion team Charlotte FC at Subaru Park.